- June 27, 2024
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On paper, buying work uniforms for city crews doesn’t seem like a very controversial agenda item.
But after two council members suggested they’d like to see the uniforms made in the United States, it turned into quite the discussion at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The item was ultimately approved unanimously.
The item was approving an agreement with UniFirst Corp., of Jacksonville, for $57,000 in uniforms: $20,000 for the fire department; $19,000 for public works; and $18,000 for the utility department.
UniFirst was the low bidder. Cintas Corp., of Daytona Beach, was the only other bidder. Both companies make their uniforms in Mexico, according to city documents.
UniFirst doesn’t have an option for the uniforms to be made in the United States, City Manager Jim Landon said at Tuesday’s meeting. Cintas, however, does. But in order for them to supply uniforms made domestically, Landon said the cost would go up about 65% higher than the agreement with UniFirst (40% because it was that much higher during the bid process, and an additional 20% to 25% for the uniforms to be made in the U.S.).
“You’d have to reject these (two) bids and go back out to bid to get a firm number,” Landon said. “These are just estimates I’m giving you.”
City Councilman Bill McGuire first brought up the idea of buying uniforms that are made within the U.S. at last week’s workshop. Although the numbers won’t work with the city’s current budget, McGuire said he would like to see it as a possibility in the future.
“It’s too much,” he said. “We do our best to try and create jobs and bring work into the city, and this philosophy extends into the United States’ economy. Wherever we can, we should purchase things that are made in the U.S., unless the cost is too prohibitive, which it is, in this case.”
City Councilman Jason DeLorenzo said he, too, had been thinking about the uniforms since McGuire brought it up.
“There is a point where we have to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” DeLorenzo said. “You just have to take a stand and do it. ... If enough people make a stand, then the price should come down, but 65% — that’s a big number.”
City officials did agree to draft a letter to send to UniFirst expressing their interest for a U.S.-manufactured option for future contracts. The city has a three-year agreement with UniFirst, with additional two-year options.
